Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin.
Merlin stared, wide eyed at Arthur, his brain still processing what had been repeated to him twice already.
"I beg your pardon, Arthur."
The King rolled his eyes and clipped Merlin's head with the back of his hand.
"Ow!"
"I said you are dismissed from your duties for this evening."
Merlin rubbed his head and grinned, "Very funny…"
Arthur huffed and gestured for Merlin to help him out of his plate and chainmail. "Yes Merlin, as unlikely as it may seem, I have decided…Merlin what are you doing?"
Merlin dumped Arthur's gauntlets on the table and began unbuckling the breast plate, glancing theatrically out of the window again.
"Just checking for flying pigs, my Lord."
This earned him another sharp blow to the head.
"I'm serious Merlin," Arthur said, raising his arms and allowing Merlin to remove his chain vest. "Your usual, though frankly appallingservices are not what I require from you this evening. You will help the other servants prepare for the arrival of Prince Cador of East Anglia tomorrow morning."
Merlin's smile faded, "Prince Cador? I thought the King himself was to sign the treaty."
Arthur sighed heavily, "No Merlin," he said patronisingly. "You'd know that if you'd been paying attention yesterday afternoon when I told you the King had fallen ill and that his son was decidedly old enough now to represent his father at such a ceremony."
Merlin snorted and folded his arms across his chest. "Oh sorry, I forgot that little conversation, it's just that I was a bit busy being shot at that particular afternoon."
Arthur grinned widely and he stepped behind the dressing screen.
"It was hardly my fault Merlin; from a distance you've got the every appearance of a wild animal. Not to mention the smell…
Merlin's retort was muffled by Arthur's shirt which sailed over the dressing screen and landed on his head. He draped a new shirt over the screen and went to retrieve the armour.
"What's this…Prince Cador like?" he asked absently.
There was a faint cough from behind the screen and nothing else.
"Arthur?"
The King reappeared and to Merlin's astonishment, he saw the looked slightly flushed.
"I've only met him once, a few years ago."
Merlin frowned, "I don't remember him ever coming to Camelot."
Arthur looked distinctly unhappy with the turn their conversation had taken. "Yes, well it was quite a few years ago, before you came to Camelot."
"What happened?"
Arthur gave Merlin a withering look. "Well if you really want to know…we fought each other in the annual tournament."
Merlin turned to face Arthur incredulously, "And?" he asked eagerly.
Arthur glowered at his manservant, "I lost."
"Ha!"
"Merlin!"
"What?"
Arthur smiled a painfully fake smile. "The thing is Merlin, most of my knights aren't aware of that particular…incident. And I'd quite like it stay like that."
Merlin beamed, "Of course, Sire. Your secret is safe with me."
Arthur's eyes narrowed. "Hmm, well you'll be busy enough when the Prince and his men arrive that I doubt you'll have much time to talk to anyone."
"Oh I can't wait," Merlin left the room and headed for the armoury, carrying the armour rather precariously. To his surprise, Arthur followed him.
"I should warn you, Merlin," Arthur said from behind him. "Prince Cador has been known to behave rather…impatiently towards his servants."
Merlin smiled, "I'm used to dealing with impatient, pompous royals."
Arthur rolled his eyes. "I'm serious." He jogged to Merlin's side. "In fact," he whispered, "Cador's past three menservants have all died of unknown causes."
"Of course Arthur," Merlin said, trying to imitate Arthur's patronising tone. "Now, haven't you got anything better to do, like running a kingdom perhaps?"
"All I'm saying, is that not all nobles are as good to their servants as other people are-"
Merlin snorted so loudly that the two knights walking ahead of them turned and stared in alarm.
"Oh please!" he exclaimed, "I can deal with just one more arrogant prince. I've had so much practise already."
He swiftly dodged Arthur's fist and sprinted down the rest of the corridor before disappearing into the armoury. Arthur laughed before turning on his heel and heading for the main hall so he could oversee the preparations that had already begun.
Merlin may have been relieved of his normal duties that evening, but he had by knows means any easier an ordeal. The whole city seemed to be preparing for the Prince's visit with a rarely seen vigour. Merlin didn't really understand what all the fuss was about. Camelot had its fair share of royal guests in the past, but never had preparations such as these been made. According to Arthur, a treaty between the kingdoms of Camelot, East Angelia and Mercia really was something to celebrate. They were the three most powerful kingdoms in Albion. And to have them all, united in peace was certainly something worth dressing up the kingdom for. The treaty was to be signed by Camelot and East Angelia the following day. And later that week, a party consisting of knights of Camelot and East Angelia, would take the treaty to Mercia, where Lord Baynard would add his seal.
However, by the end of the evening, Merlin couldn't help but feel slightly resentful of 'The Treaty of Haedwch Canol' (which in the language of the ancient kings meant 'The Treaty of Midland Peace'.) His list of duties included, preparing the best guest chambers for the Prince, preparing clean bed clothes for the Prince and his knights, polishing the silver wear for the banquet and (in Arthur's words) checking with the kitchens that there was a dish and a drink for any request that their guests could think of. By the time he had finished, it was past midnight and before he knew it, Gaius was shaking him awake.
"Merlin…Merlin, wake up! You're going to be late. Arthur wants all the knights and personal servants of the King and Queen present when the Prince arrives."
Merlin groan turned into a yell as Gaius wrenched open his curtains and sunlight poured into the little bedroom. Forcing himself out of bed, he practically slept walked into the smartest, cleanest clothes he could find. And by the time he'd made his way down stairs, he'd woken up properly.
Gaius was bustling around the room fixing their breakfast. Merlin noticed he too had made an effort for Prince's arrival, and was wearing clothes normally strictly reserved for ceremonies and weddings. When his guardian glanced up at him, Merlin twirled on the spot.
"How do I look?" he asked, grinning.
"Divine," Gaius replied gravely. "Now sit down and eat your breakfast."
Merlin shovelled his breakfast down in double time and was making his way out before Gaius had even sat down.
"See you later!" he called over his shoulder.
As he made his way out into the small courtyard, he glanced around him. There wasn't a single knight to be seen. He cursed under his breath, they must have assembled already. Sure enough, when he burst through the main palace doors that led to the larger courtyard, he nearly ran straight into Gwaine, who was assembled on the steps with the other knights.
"Watch it," he hissed, before his face split into a grin. "Oh Merlin, it's you. You better get into position; Arthur's getting cranky."
Merlin didn't really see what he could do. Hurriedly, he dragged his fingers through his hair and smoothed out his shirt.
Gwaine laughed, "Yeah, that'll do it."
Merlin bit back his retort that Gwaine had hardly done a better job as someone near the front hissed, "Be quiet!"
Then came the clattering of many hooves on the cobbled ground and a small party of about seven riders entered the courtyard. They were clad in chain mail and green capes with a coat of arms (a unicorn standing on its rear legs) sewn on each man's right sleeve. Then, in one swift movement, each man dismounted his horse and gave a small bow to the Camelot party, who returned the action immediately. Then the one of the riders, the one who had ridden at the front, stepped forward and removed his helmet. The rider was certainly not the tallest of his party. In fact, he may have been the shortest. However, he was stocky and powerfully built. And his face was not boyish, but strong and slightly brutal looking, and framed by fairly long, light brown hair. He also appeared to have a long scar that started by his left ear and extended down towards his very prominent chin.
"Nice chin," Merlin murmured. In front of him, Gwaine made an odd sound, somewhere between a snort and a splutter as he tried to stifle his laughter.
"Prince Cador," Arthur stepped forward with Guinevere at his side. "We welcome you and your knights to Camelot." The two nobles grasped hands in a gesture that wasn't quite a hand shake.
Prince Cador's eyes swept over the vast palace and his lip curled into a slight sneer.
"I can see Camelot has changed little since your father's time," he said rather haughtily.
Arthur gave a small smile. "It certainly looks the same. But we have achieved much in three years."
Prince Cador's response was an unpleasantly high pitched laugh. "We shall see."
Arthur looked a little affronted, but quickly composed himself and gestured for the prince to follow them.
"Come," he said. "I'll show you to your chambers and have my servant bring up your belongings."
"Thank you, sire," the prince bowed his head. "That is very kind."
Guinevere stepped forward, smiling. "And we've organised a feast for this evening, in your honour."
Merlin carefully scrutinized what the Prince did next, and he didn't like what he saw. Having responded positively to Arthur's comment, the Prince fixed the Queen with a cold stare. There was an uncomfortable moment of silence in which Guinevere's cheeks turned slightly pink. Arthur coughed and the Prince turned to him expectantly.
"If you'd like to follow me," Arthur said lightly.
He led the Prince into the palace, but Guinevere stayed behind. Merlin noticed with concern that the colour had left her cheeks and instead she had visibly paled. The King and the Prince swept by Merlin and the Prince hung back for a moment.
"You, boy!" he barked, looking at the manservant like he was something slimy he'd found on the bottom of his shoe. "Follow us and bring my processions to my chambers."
Merlin nodded briefly and immediately crossed the courtyard to retrieve Prince Cador's belongings.
"Well this is certainly going to be interesting," he murmured to himself.
Hi guys! If you liked the first chapter, please review. I'll try and update again as soon as I can. Oh and BTW, I wrote this before tonight's episode; so Guinevere isn't being controlled by Morgana :)
What did you think of the episode tonight? I thought it was amazing! :D
